Horticulture News

 

September 15, 2025

 

Eight Reasons to Test Your Soil

Soil testing can tell you many things about your soil that can help you make informed decisions about fertilizer application, site selection for crops and so much more. It is an essential part of a successful agriculture or horticulture enterprise. Home gardens and lawns can also greatly benefit from soil testing.

With the wet pattern Kentucky has been in over the past year, soil testing is paramount to having a quality hay supply for next winter.

There’s really no reason not to test your soil since your local office of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service makes it simple. So, let’s get to it. Why should you test your soil?

1. Know the pH level of your soil. Soil experts will make different recommendations depending on the acidity or alkalinity of your soil and your intended use.
2. Save time and money. Having the proper levels of soil nutrients will help maximize economic yields. Soil testing also reduces the chance of overapplying and over purchasing fertilizers.
3. It’s good for the environment. Soil testing results in a more accurate application of fertilizers and that ultimately reduces runoff into waterways.
4. They are not expensive. Each county office may charge a nominal fee to cover soil analysis costs.
5. It is easy. Taking samples doesn’t take a lot of time or skill, and your county agents can help you along the way.
6. Find out the fertility level of the soil. You gain knowledge about the soil condition and can make informed decisions about how to improve it.
7. Follow soil changes over time. Follow how conditions like drought, prolonged wet periods and other weather scenarios affect the soil.
8. Identify problem areas in your field or garden.

You’ll need to take different samples for various land uses such as agricultural, fields, lawns, gardens, fruit trees, shrubs and flowers because they all have distinct fertility and pH requirements. Source: Frank Sikora, UK soil testing coordinator. To learn more about soil call the extension office at 859-498-8741 and sign up for the soils workshop on Tuesday September 16^th at noon at the extension office education center. Hope to see you there.

Brown Lawns could mean Fall Armyworm Damage

This is one of the worst years on record for fall armyworms as a pest in home lawns, and specifically cool-season grasses. Normally, fall armyworms are a pest in agriculture crops, or feed on warm-season grasses, such as bermudagrass on golf courses. We are not used to seeing them in cool-season lawns like they are this year. Lawns started turning brown practically overnight and can look very brown and dead.

A fall armyworm is a grayish-to-greenish worm with stripes running down the body, an inverted “Y” on its head and is about 1.5 inches long. They get the name “army” because they feed in groups and progress from one area to another as if they were marching. Fall armyworms do not feed on grass roots, but on the blades, which causes damage and makes lawns turn brown very quickly. They mostly feed during the very early morning or late in the evening. You might not see them during the day as they tend to hide in the thatch of lawns to avoid ultraviolet light.

Lawns will recover from armyworm damage, but you may have to reseed. If we have cooler weather and plenty of rain this fall, our cool-season grasses may recover some.  Fall armyworms do not overwinter in Kentucky and will disappear after the first frost. Source: Ray Tackett, UK extension horticulture agent.

 

September 8, 2025

Time to Plant your Fall Garden

As the summer warmth begins to wane, you don’t have to bid farewell to the joys of cultivating your garden. This time between seasons offers a golden opportunity to plant a vibrant fall vegetable garden, promising an uninterrupted flow of produce throughout autumn. Alternating balmy days and brisk nights support a variety of cool-season vegetables for your family to enjoy. 

Some of the best quality vegetables are produced during fall’s warm days and cool nights. These environmental conditions add sugar to late-season sweet corn and cole crops, such as cauliflower and cabbage, and add crispness to carrots. 

Fall vegetables harvested after early September consist of two types: the last succession plantings of warm-season crops, such as corn and bush beans; and cool-season crops that grow well during the cool fall days and withstand frost. 

When planting a fall garden, group crops the same way you would in the spring; plant so taller plants don’t shade out shorter ones. To encourage good germination, fill each seed furrow with water and let it soak in. Keep the soil moist but not wet until seeds have germinated. Be aware that cool night’s slow growth, so plants take longer to mature in the fall than in the summer. 

You may use polyethylene row covers to extend the growing season of frost-sensitive crops, such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. This helps trap heat from the soil and protect the crop from chilly night temperatures. 

Often Kentucky experiences a period of mild weather after the first killing frost. If you protect frost-sensitive vegetables at critical times in the fall, you could extend the harvest season by several weeks. 

Once these vegetables die due to lower temperatures, you may be able to plant cool season crops in their place. Leafy greens like lettuce and spinach may grow into November or December under polyethylene row covers if outside temperatures do not drop below the teens. Be sure to allow for ventilation on sunny days to prevent overheating. 

You may successfully seed or transplant the following vegetables now for fall harvest: Bibb lettuce, leaf lettuce, kale, mustard greens, radishes, spinach, snow peas and turnips for greens. Source: Rick Durham, UK extension horticulture specialist.

 

 

Soil Testing

    Soil testing is a soil-management tool we use to determine the fertility of soil as well as the optimum lime and fertilizer requirements for crops. Fall is the best time of year to test your soil. Most nutrients take some time to break down and become available to the plant. If you give them all winter to break down, by the time you are ready to plant in the spring, the plants can better take up the nutrients.

     All Kentucky county extension offices offer help with soil testing. Just bring a soil sample to your county extension office and they will send it to UK’s Division of Regulatory Services and within a few days you will have the results. Testing doesn’t cost much, and you may use the results for everything you grow from trees and flowers to fruits and vegetables.

    When taking a soil sample, remember plants have shallow roots that lie within the top 6 to12 inches of soil.  Use a trowel to dig down about 6 to 8 inches and collect approximately two cups of soil per sample. Put the sample in a plastic bucket since a metal bucket may taint the results. When you bring the sample to your county extension office, they will put it into a soil test bag along with some information you provide and soon you will your test results.  It will save you some money and it is good for the environment.

As a rule, you should test sandy-textured soils every 2-3 years and clay soils every 3-4 years. However, if problems occur during the growing season, send in a soil sample for analysis. Source: Alexis Sheffield, UK extension horticulture agent.

To learn more about soils come to the soils class at the extension office education center. The class will be led by Horticulture Agent Cheyenne Lamb, and it will take place on September 16^th at noon. I hope to see you there.

 

 

 

September 1, 2025

 

Seven ways to help a drought-stressed lawn

Kentucky’s been pretty dry the past few weeks. September and October are usually our driest months. Even if we get a heavy rainfall in the near future, it won’t completely alleviate drought symptoms.

When a lawn becomes excessively dry, the soil surface develops some water repellency that prevents water from soaking in during a quick, hard rain event.

Here are some things you can do to help your thirsty grass and hopefully avoid having to completely reseed your lawn.

1. Water every other day or every third day until good, soaking rains begin.
2. Apply about two-thirds of an inch of water each time. You can check this by probing the soil with a knife or screwdriver to determine if the soil is wet 2 to 3 inches deep.
3. Water in the early morning to help reduce diseases, remove dew and reduce evaporative water loss.
4. Water areas that have the earliest browning first. These are often on southern or western facing slopes or areas with heavy clay soils, very compacted soil or rocks near the surface.
5. If possible, don’t mow a drought-stricken yard until you can water it or you know a soaking rain is on the way. Weeds are still growing and flowering during summer droughts. Wait for the rain, then mow off the weeds.
6. Don’t apply herbicides during a summer drought. They won’t work when weeds are suffering and can damage drought-stressed grass more than weeds.
7. Wait for a soaking rain before applying nitrogen to the lawn in the fall. Nitrogen can greatly improve a lawn’s drought recovery.

Source: Gregg Munshaw, plant and soil sciences extension associate professor.

 

 

Cover crops are good for vegetable gardens too

Traditional farmers routinely plant a cover crop at the end of a growing season. This is not something usually done by vegetable growers but is highly recommended.

 A cover crop is intentionally seeding a crop if your garden is going to be sitting idle for a period of time, instead of letting the land sit fallow.  It will put nutrients back into the soil to improve fertility and erosion control.  The type of cover crop you choose to plant depends on your equipment and level of interest. 

 There are two types of cover crops, legumes and non-legumes.  Legumes will add nitrogen to the soil and non-legumes, a type of grass, establishes better than legumes.  In a vegetable garden a mixture of the two is common, but you can choose one or the other.  Cover crops are typically planted in the fall after all crops have been harvested. 

Examples of cover crops include:

• Cereal rye – non-legume – planted September to November
• Wheat – non-legume – planted September to November
• Hairy vetch – legume – adds nitrogen – planted August to September
• Crimson clover – legume – adds nitrogen – planted August to September

Grasses are easier to remove in the spring, before planting, because they have a shallow root system.  Crimson clover is recommended as a legume with its shallow root system and is a good pollinator. Source: Jessica Sayre, UK extension horticulture agent.

 

 

August 25, 2025

 

Composting Basics

Composting is a great way to add valuable organic matter to your soil while reducing the amount of yard and food waste that ends up in landfills. It’s also something that nearly everyone can do.

Compost is the result of a natural process where decaying organic substances, such as plants, are broken down by microorganisms. This produces a nutrient-rich, organic material that you can apply to your lawn or garden, much like you would a commercial fertilizer.

You can start a compost bin or pile in your backyard. You can purchase a bin or make one using inexpensive, leftover materials like pallets or chicken wire. The bin can be as big or small as you want, but for most rapid composting, a pile that is at least 1-yard tall and 1-yard wide and 1-yard long is best. Make sure you place your compost in an area that is flat and well-drained.

Once you have defined a compost area, collect yard waste and food scraps. Yard waste includes twigs, shrub trimmings, grass clippings, leftover straw and leaves. Most fruit, vegetables and grain scraps are compostable as are coffee grounds, herbs, nuts and eggshells. Avoid meat scraps, oils and dairy products. Remember, you need to have a mixture of “brown” material (dried leaves, straw, twigs, coffee grounds, even cardboard) and “green” materials (fresh grass clippings, vegetable scraps, other fresh plant materials) for the composting process to work. Mix or turn the pile once a week to help speed the breakdown of organic materials. If the compost pile is extremely damp, turn it more often. If it is dry, add some water or fresh plant material. It can take four to six months to complete the composting process. You will know it’s finished when the compost is dark brown, crumbly and smells like soil.

Compost can be used in the vegetable garden or spread around ornamental plants in the landscape but be careful not to use too much. A 1-inch layer of compost, worked into the top few inches of soil, will feed plants for several months. Source: Rick Durham, extension professor.

Join Horticulture Agent Cheyenne Lamb on September 2^nd at 6p.m. in the Montgomery County Extension Education Center to learn about composting basics. Call the extension office at (859) 498-8741 to sign up.

 

 

 

Ways to Handle Fall Yard Waste

Fall is a beautiful time in Kentucky gardens, but it can also be a messy time. Tree leaves turn from green to vibrant fall colors and then drop, creating big piles. Then there are the leaves and spent shoots from our flower beds.

The way we address our yard waste can have a significant impact on our gardens and on the environment. Gardeners commonly rake up and bag leaves to haul away to yard waste dumps.

This option, while tidy, uses a lot of energy, both yours and the energy to transport the leaves and mixed garden waste.

An alternative is to mulch leaves and yard waste. You could use the bountiful resource to enrich your lawn and garden, while creating less waste and air pollution.

A very simple technique with leaves is to rake them into a line and mow over them with your lawn mower.

The mower will chop the leaves into pieces small enough to fall between the blades of grass in your lawn. The chopped leaves will break down out of sight, provide nutrients for your lawn and improve the quality of your soil.

For larger items like spent flower stalks, composting is a simple, easy and environmentally friendly option. Done properly, it produces no odor and provides a generous amount of nutrient-rich organic compost for your garden, which reduces or eliminates the need to buy fertilizer.

Composting also eliminates the need to transport garden waste, making composting a triple-win situation for your garden, wallet and the environment.

The speed of compost production is influenced by the size of the material placed in the bin, so the more you can chop up the garden debris, the quicker you will have usable compost. Many options for compost bin design and construction are well suited to any location and budget.

Using leaves as mulch has many benefits. The mulch helps retain moisture in the soil and insulates plants from extreme winter temperatures. The decomposed leaves become an excellent conditioner for warming spring soil, helping to attract worms and other beneficial microorganisms. Source: Richard Durham, extension horticulture specialist.

 

 

August 18, 2025

 

Help Your Garden Weather a Heatwave

If you think you’re hot, ask your plants (not literally). They can suffer under high summer heat, too. 

Most vegetables and native plants can withstand a periodic heatwave, but once the soil dries out in the top few inches, all plants can feel the stress. Some vegetables like beans and tomatoes may delay producing fruit during hot weather but this is usually temporary. A layer of mulch around your plantings can help hold moisture for those important surface roots and moderate the soil’s temperature. A light-colored mulch like straw, pine needles or grass clippings can help to reflect heat back and away from the plant’s roots. 

But don’t worry. There are ways to protect your plants!  

Water your plants in the early morning before the heat of day to prevent water loss to evaporation. If you use sprinklers, most of that water can be lost through wind drift and evaporation, so try to water on a calm morning. Hand watering gives you the best control and directs the water exactly where you need it. If you can, it is best to soak the soil directly beneath the plant and avoid getting the leaves wet. Soaker hoses are good for directing the water where it’s needed most.  

Watering in the morning also discourages slugs and fungal diseases. An evening dousing can leave the soil and foliage wet for longer periods of time and encourage snails, slugs and the spread of disease.  

You may have to water container gardens two or even three times a day, depending on how large the container is and how much foliage is present. If they are small enough to be moved, shifting containers to a place where they can get partial shade will help manage the plants’ stress, but some plants may not bloom as well when exposed to prolonged shady conditions.  

During normal weather, young trees need at least 10 gallons of water a week for the first three years directed toward their developing root systems. If you find yourself in a hot dry spell, provide your young trees and shrubs with more water. They are at their most susceptible during those early years. A tree bag contains a reservoir of water that is released slowly to the plant and can help keep the tree well-watered during the hottest spells. You’ll only have to fill the bag occasionally rather than watering every few days. They can be purchased at most garden shops.  

Shade cloth, which comes in varying thicknesses, can help protect plants that are withering under the sun’s rays. Support it above or to one side of the plants, which will shelter them like a porch protects us from the strongest sunlight. Tree branches with leaves can also be placed over plants to provide shade.  

Now is not the time to cut your lawns short. Mow them to at least a three-inch height. That way, the grass blades will provide shade for their own roots and help hold in soil moisture. Avoid fertilizing lawns and gardens during heatwaves, because roots’ capacity for taking up nutrients are reduced during hot weather. You’ll just be wasting your money. Most Kentucky lawns are comprised of bluegrass and tall fescue. Once established, both of these species withstand quite a bit of drought.   

Many cool-season crops are planted in August, but the late summer heat can be hard on young transplants. Again, shade cloth can come in handy. Or plant them under more mature plants, so they can benefit from the shade the larger plant throws. Source: Rick Durham, extension professor, Department of Horticulture.

 

Summer Plant Care Tips for Healthier, Longer-lasting Blooms

By mid-summer, many summer annuals have already produced plenty of flowers, and some may be starting to set seed. Once this happens, plants shift their energy toward maturing seeds instead of producing more blooms. You can encourage fresh flowers by “deadheading,” or removing the faded blossoms. Snip off the spent blooms, give the plant a boost with a liquid fertilizer following the label instructions, and keep it well-watered. This helps redirect energy back into growth and flowering instead of seed production. 

Marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, verbena, geraniums and petunias all respond well to deadheading. That said, many modern hybrids of petunias, zinnias, and verbena are bred to keep blooming steadily without it. If your plant is vigorous, green and producing new flowers, you can skip the step. 

Container plants often get overgrown or tired-looking by mid-summer. A good trim can spark fresh growth, but sometimes the best option is to replace them entirely. Swapping in new plants can instantly brighten an entryway or patio and give your outdoor spaces a refreshed look. 

Regular watering is essential during the hottest months. Annual flowers and vegetable gardens often need water every few days. Deep watering every other day is better than a light sprinkle daily, as it encourages roots to grow deeper. If a good summer rain soaks the soil, you can safely skip your next watering. 

If plants lose their rich green color or their growth slows, they may need feeding. Applying a liquid fertilizer as directed on the label can bring noticeable results in just a few days. For best results, water the soil first — feeding dry plants will have little effect. 

Trees and shrubs usually require less attention in summer. Established woody plants are fairly drought-tolerant and can often go a week to 10 days without rain. If summer storms damage limbs, prune them back at any time. You can also remove spent flowers from shrubs now but save major pruning for late winter or early spring. Source: Rick Durham, horticulture extension professor.

 

 

 

August 11, 2025

 

Late-Season Garden Care: Keeping Your Garden Thriving Through August
By Cheyenne Lamb, Montgomery County Horticulture Extension Agent

As the summer sun blazes on, many Montgomery County gardeners are shifting their focus to late-season garden care. August is a pivotal month: disease pressure is high, weeds are thriving, and fruiting plants are working overtime. With just a few targeted strategies, you can help your garden stay productive and healthy into the fall.

1. Water Wisely

August often brings dry spells, and inconsistent watering can lead to problems like blossom end rot, especially in tomatoes and peppers. Aim for deep, infrequent watering—about 1–1.5 inches per week. Water at the base of plants early in the day to reduce evaporation and disease spread.

Tip: Use a rain gauge or soil moisture meter to track water levels. Mulching with straw or compost helps conserve moisture and keep roots cool.

2. Stay Ahead of Pests

Late summer pests like spider mites, aphids, and stink bugs can quickly get out of control. Spider mites thrive in hot, dry conditions and often go unnoticed until damage is severe. Look for stippling on leaves and fine webbing under foliage.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies—like hand-picking, beneficial insects, and selective spraying—can help reduce damage without harming pollinators. Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides during bloom periods.

3. Control Disease with Sanitation

Fungal diseases such as early blight, powdery mildew, and septoria leaf spot tend to peak in late summer. Remove infected leaves as soon as symptoms appear. Clean up fallen leaves and crop debris regularly and avoid overhead watering.

Rotate your crops each season and leave space between plants for airflow to help prevent the spread of pathogens.

4. Support Heavy Producers

Tomato cages, trellises, and stakes may need reinforcement as plants grow heavier with fruit. Prune back suckers and lower leaves on tomato plants to improve airflow and focus energy on ripening fruit. Harvest regularly to keep plants producing.

5. Plan for What’s Next

As your summer crops slow down, start clearing space for fall vegetables. Remove exhausted plants and replenish beds with compost or aged manure. Now is a great time to test your soil—stop by the extension office at 106 E. Locust Street, Mt. Sterling, KY 40353 to pick up some soil test bags.

Need Help?
Stop by the Montgomery County Extension Office for advice, soil test bags and drop off, insect ID, and more! We’re here to help your garden finish strong! Call (859) 498-8741 or visit https://montgomery.ca.uky.edu.